Music can get you moving, lift your mood, and even help you recall a memory, but can it improve your health? The National Institutes of Health and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have partnered to expand the scope of an initiative that NIH has had with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for several years called Sound Health. The partnership, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts, aims to:

expand current knowledge and understanding of how listening, performing, or creating music involves intricate circuitry in the brain that could be harnessed for health and wellness applications in daily life,

explore ways to enhance the potential for music as therapy for neurological disorders,

identify future opportunities for research, and

create public awareness about how the brain functions and interacts with music.

On June 2 and 3, the Kennedy Center and the NIH, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts, hosted Sound Health: Music and the Mind, a series of performances, lectures and hands-on workshops that brought leading researchers in the field and performers to explore the intersection of music and science. If you missed it, you can view the performances and sessions.